HIV-Attributed Causes of Death in the Medical Ward at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, South Africa

Summary Background There are sparse data in Africa on the association between HIV infection and deaths from underlying medical conditions. Using records from the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH) in Soweto, South Africa, we determined mortality from medical conditions associated with HIV. Methods From January 2006 to December 2009 AB collected data on 15,725 deaths including age, sex, day of admittance and death, HIV status, ART initiation and CD4+ cell counts and reviewed the underlying cause of death using medical notes. Conditions known to be associated with HIV were cases; conditions not associated with HIV were controls. We calculate the HIV odds-ratios for cases relative to controls and HIV-attributable deaths as the fraction of those with each condition, the disease-attributable fraction (DA), and as the fraction of all deaths, the population-attributable fraction (PAF). Interpretation The high prevalence of HIV among those that died in the medical wards at the CHBH, especially in those below the age of 50 years, demonstrates the impact of the HIV-epidemic on adult mortality and hospital services and the extent to which early antiretroviral treatment would have reduced the burden of both. Of the deaths included in the analysis the prevalence of HIV was 61% and the prevalence of AIDS related conditions was 69%. The HIV-attributable fraction was 36% in the whole sample and 60% in those that were HIV-positive. Cryptococcosis, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Pneumocystis jeroveci are highly predictive of HIV while TB, gastroenteritis and anaemia are very strongly associated with HIV. The greatest number of deaths attributable to HIV was among those dying of TB or of other respiratory conditions. Funding No funding was received for this study.